About This PhD Project

Project Description

With the growing numbers of female workforce, a heightened awareness has been raised on the effect of heterogeneous board membership on firm performance. According to the Women in the Boardroom report from Deloitte, women hold 15 percent of board seats worldwide, showing an increase trend compares with previous edition. Besides, some countries such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark have introduced legislation and regulation about the gender composition in firms’ board of directors. For example, Norwegian regulators requires list firm to include 40% of female director to attempt legislation. The Higgs Report which is commissioned by the UK government also recommends UK firms to include more female directors. Therefore, an important question has been raised: how this difference influence corporate governance and whether diversity improve corporate governance?

A research proposal is hence invited to study the impact of gender diversity on firm investment. The successful candidate will be able to have opportunity to join a team of researchers with specialized knowledge in banking, finance, and corporate governance. The applicant is expected to have a strong academic background.

Funding Notes

Applicants interested in this research project should submit a more detailed research proposal (of a maximum of 2000 words)

This project is funded by a University of Aberdeen Elphinstone Scholarship. An Elphinstone Scholarship covers the cost of tuition fees, whether Home, EU or Overseas. Selection will be made on the basis of academic merit.